Josh Groban

“Grobanite makes me think of a type of harmless crustacean.”

“As a new artist there's always outside influences trying to tell you how to make a song better for radio and how to do your hair.”

“Don't give up. It's just the weight of the world.”

“Every day I lugged my backpack through the halls, waiting for the final bell. Then I'd race home and hole up in my room, playing the drums and the piano, composing music.”

“I think that things like Twitter and the blogosphere are so instantaneously critical that I think it's actually created a bit of a culture of artistic fear to branch out too much because you don't want to be slammed.”

“I did improv in junior high school. Figuring out my comedic timing helped my confidence in talking to the bullies and talking to people in class. If I could make them laugh, then I was in; I was OK.”

“All of the things an arts education gives a young person enhance leadership skills and help raise grades.”

“The honest-to-goodness answer is that Twitter tells me everything, and I have calluses on my fingers from all the mouse-clicking.”

“After using four different languages on an album, it's tough to decide which one I'm gonna actually learn to speak. I always study the lyric, make sure I know what I'm singing, and try to get the pronunciation as perfect as possible.”

“I get terrible butterflies. Before I go onstage, I'll have to freak out for five minutes. I scream. It seems to help!”

“I wasn't the best student, and for some reason, I always got music. While other people were having trouble figuring out notes on a page, I could listen to it once and play it back.”

“I was the boy who liked to sing his own songs at talent shows, and I was suddenly officially uncool.”

“You live in a bubble, generally, when you're touring and recording - you're in confined - in alone space, wherever you are, in the dressing room or in the studio - so sometimes it's hard to grasp that bigger picture of things that are going on.”

“Don't try to be like me. Try to be like yourself. Try to be very good at being yourself.”

“I was a shy kid. I was awkward. I was picked on.”

“Everybody wants to experiment, wants to explore. You should hear me at karaoke. I can sing anything you throw at me. I can do a good Dave Grohl.”

“The best way for me to teach myself an instrument is to just jam on it, and sound awful sometimes, and sound great other times.”

“What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I've tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title.”

“Fly me up to where you are beyond the distant star. I wish upon tonight to see you smile, if only for a while to know you're there. A breath away's not far to where you are.”

“I'm the world's worst dancer. I have dancephobia.”